Tag: Justin Jefferson

Instant analysis of Eagles 24-7 beatdown of Vikings in Week 2

Instant analysis of the Philadelphia Eagles’ 24-7 beatdown of Minnesota Vikings in Week 2

The Eagles made a statement on Monday night, dominating from the start while controlling the pace in an impressive 24-7 victory at Lincoln Financial Field.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts was the best player on the field, going 26 of 31 passing for 333 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

Hurts also had 11 carries for 52 yards and two rushing touchdowns on the night while controlling the pace and making timely throws.

Philadelphia harrassed Kirk Cousins on defense into 27-46 attempts for 221 yards, one touchdown, and three costly interceptions.

Here’s an instant analysis from the night.

Twitter reacts to Eagles CB Darius Slay shutting down Vikings WR Justin Jefferson in Week 2

It’s hard to shut a guy down in the NFL, but the Philadelphia Eagles and Darius Slay contained Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, and Twitter reacted

The Philadelphia Eagles passed on Justin Jefferson in the 2020 NFL draft, and the anticipation was that the NFL’s 2nd best wide receiver would make the Birds pay for the move.

It was not to be as Darius Slay held Jefferson to five catches for 43 yards receiving on 11 targets with 2:38 seconds left in the ball game.

The results didn’t favor Jefferson, and they follow the star wide receiver telling the media that he was “way happier” in Minnesota than he would have been in Philadelphia.

Social media reacts to everything, and Twitter reacted strongly to Darius Slay, logging two interceptions and being in position for several more.

Eagles CB Darius Slay destroys Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson, and the Vikings’ offense

Eagles cornerback Darius Slay opened up a can on Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson, and the Vikings’ formerly dynamic offense.

In their season opener against the Green Bay Packers, the Minnesota Vikings went off on offense to the tune of a 23-7 thrashing. Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson particularly tortured Green Bay’s defense, which had the weird idea to put everybody but Jaire Alexander, their best cornerback, wherever Jefferson went.

Jefferson’s response as one of the NFL’s best receivers was to catch nine passes on 11 targets for 184 yards and two touchdowns.

The Packers didn’t have a plan for Justin Jefferson, and it showed

The Eagles came into Monday night with a different plan against the Vikings: They were going to put their best cornerback (Darius Slay) on Jefferson as much as possible. Sounds like a radical strategy, but it worked to perfection.

Per Next Gen Stats, Jefferson caught one pass on five targets with Slay as the closest defender, and Slay intercepted two of those targets.

Slay’s first pick came early in the second half. Quarterback Kirk Cousins may have expected Jefferson to work across Slay’s face, but that didn’t happen, and Slay had a very easy pick.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, Cousins attempted a fadeaway jumper to Jefferson in the left corner of the end zone, and Slay took advantage of the fact that Cousins just couldn’t get enough on it.

At this rate, other NFL teams might try putting their best cornerbacks on Minnesota’s best receiver. You just never know.

7 takeaways from first half as Eagles lead Vikings 24-7 on Monday Night Football

Seven takeaways from the first half as Philadelphia Eagles lead Minnesota Vikings 24-7 on Monday Night Football

The Eagles entered Monday night with something to prove, and they jumped out to a 24-7 halftime lead behind three total touchdowns from quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Jalen Hurts went almost 11 straight completions without a misstep, and Philadelphia jumped out to an early lead behind a near-perfect blend of running, passing, and RPO game from offensive coordinator Shane Steichen.

The Eagles got DeVonta Smith involved early, and he finished the first half with four catches. At the same time, Darius Slay had early success against Justin Jefferson in his first visit to Philadelphia.

Here are seven takeaways from an impressive first half for Jalen Hurts.

4 bold predictions for Week 2 Vikings vs Eagles

Expect the unexpected with these bold predictions

The Minnesota Vikings are coming off of a 23-7 win against the Green Bay Packers with quite a few things coming to fruition.

The Vikings offense came out firing on all cylinders against the Packers, scoring on their first drive and amassing 17 points in the first half. The defense was playing in the same vein allowing no first-half points and only seven in the game.

Going into Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, it’s a very close matchup with a lot of fun storylines. Here are my bold predictions heading into Monday night’s matchup.

Eagles-Vikings: 3 causes for concern in Week 2

Looking at three causes for concern as the Philadelphia Eagles host the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football in Week 2

The Eagles and Vikings are set for a huge Monday night matchup, and the visiting team will enter Lincoln Financial Field at a scorching hot pace.

Against Green Bay in Week 1, Minnesota logged 395 total yards, 269 passing, and 126 yards rushing.

The Vikings averaged 6.5 yards per play (6th highest), committed zero turnovers, and almost averaged a first down on every passing play.

With Philadelphia looking to avoid a letdown ahead of the matchup with Carson Wentz, here are three causes for concern in Week 2.

Justin Jefferson is happier in Minnesota than Philadelphia

The megastar wide receiver loves it in Minnesota

Going into the 2020 NFL draft, it felt inevitable that the Philadelphia Eagles were going to take a wide receiver. More specifically, most of hte draft media had the Eagles taking Justin Jefferson with the 21st selection.

The Eagles and general manager Howie Roseman and his staff shocked the world when they took Jalen Reagor over Jefferson.

Going into Monday night’s game, the storylines surrounding the two are everywhere. On Saturday morning, Jefferson was asked about having potentially been drafted by the Eagles.

The biggest takeaway from Jefferson’s comments could be taken as bulletin board material.

“Every mock draft had me going to Philly. So when Philly was on the board, getting the phone call, and it being Minnesota, it was definitely a shocker. But I’m definitely happy, way happier, to be here than there”

Needless to say, we can’t wait for Monday night.

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Eagles-Vikings preview: 7 things to know about Week 2 matchup

Here are seven things to know about the Philadelphia Eagles Monday night matchup against the Minnesota Vikings

We’re now a little over 48 hours from the Eagles and Vikings kicking off what could be the game of the week buoyed by two explosive offenses.

Both defenses will have to worry about dynamic playmakers carrying the football, as Minnesota has spent most of this week working to corral Philadelphia’s star quarterback Jalen Hurts.

On the other side, Jonathan Gannon and the Eagles will look to make sure Justin Jefferson doesn’t explode in front of fans at Lincoln Financial Field who’ll enter Monday night wondering what if.

With both teams set for one final walkthrough, here are seven things to know about Week 2.

Justin Jefferson on Eagles passing him up: I’m way more happy to be in Minnesota

Justin Jefferson says he was shocked when the Philadelphia Eagles didn’t draft him, saying: I’m definitely happy, way happier, to be here than there”

During the 2020 NFL draft, everything fell into place for Philadelphia to finally land a No. 1 wide receiver, but instead of using the eye test, the Eagles went with the depth chart instead.

With Greg Ward entrenched as the slot receiver, the Eagles selected wide receiver Jalen Reagor with the 21st overall pick, and the Vikings selected wide receiver Justin Jefferson 22nd.

Hindsight being 20-20, Howie Roseman now regrets the pick, and Jefferson is among the top pass catchers in the NFL.

Now Jefferson, Reagor, and the Vikings are headed to Philadelphia for a huge Monday night showdown.

During a recent session with the media, Jefferson recalled thinking the Eagles would be his team and being shocked when it didn’t happen.

Fans will always what-if the situation Philadelphia did land DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown, but the sting of not having Jefferson will be felt for years to come.

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Watch: Eagles CB Darius Slay calls Justin Jefferson the 2nd best WR in NFL

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay told The Pivot Podcast where he ranks Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson in his tier of top pass catchers

The Eagles and Vikings are slated for a huge Monday night matchup, and it’ll see cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry matched up with Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen.

During his off time earlier in the week, Slay sat down with Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor for The Pivot Podcast.

Philadelphia’s top cover guy was asked about Jefferson, and Slay called him the NFL’s second-best pass catcher behind Raiders star Davante Adams.

Jefferson, who the Vikings selected at No. 22 overall, has posted back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons, logging 196-catches for 3,016 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Over those past two seasons, Adams has posted 238 catches for 2,927 yards and 29 touchdowns.

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